Safety can



Feb. 14, 1939. R. J. ANSCHICKS SAFETY CAN Filed Dec. 18, 1937 f rave/125 97 faczgp/ janac/zb Patented Feb. 14, 1939 UNI TED STATES SAFETY-CAN.

Rudolph J. Anschicks,

Chicago; 111., assignon to- Protectoseal- Gompany of America, Inez, Chicago, 111., a corporation of lllini$ Application December 18, 1937, Serial No; 1811;600-

9 Glaims.

sion of improved means adapted to be manually manipulated to move the device to open position and to automatically return and maintain the device in closed position.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein given.

To this end the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts herein shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts:

Fig. 1.is an elevational view of the top. portion of a can equipped with the devices embodying the invention;.

Fig. 2 is a' View along, the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3-is a; View along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig; 4 is a view along, the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the numeral I0 generally designates a can equipped with a device embodying the principles.

of the invention and having a carrying handle II consisting of a bar of malleable iron or other suitable material fastened by rivets, welding or the like to the top of the can. The handle II providesvertical members I la and I Ib connected at their upper ends.

A spout I2, positioned adjacent to andpreferably in diametrical alignment with the handle.

I I, is fastened to the can by welding, soldering or the like to provide a sealed connection. The supply of liquidmay be replenished by delivery into.

(Cl. 22-1-'---15l accidentally overturnedor. submitted to the usual underwriters. tests.- The. closure device comprisesadiscor. capI4 of metal or other suitable rigid materialand having adiameter somewhat larger than thatof. the open end of. the spout. The capIlis provided with anannular flange I5 within which is positioneda discI6. consisting of medium hardrubber or. fibrous material having similar. cushioning. qualities. The disc I6 is fastenedto thecap-Miby a screw-bolt 9 or by any other suitable meanssuch as a layer of adhesive materialand is adapted to over-lap completely and seal the:open end of. the spout.

Thecap. I4is connected-withthe spout l2 and revolt/able from closed to openposition and vice versa. by means ofan. L-shaped lever I'I, having one..end. bifurcated, and positioned between a pair. ofspaced:apar.t projectionsv I8 formed with the. spout. The. projections I8 are integrally formedcn the side. of the spout adjacent the handle section :I [wand-provide a mounting for a pin I9 extending throughthe bifurcated end portions ofthelever II. The other end of the lever I'i extends over thecap I4 and. provides a socket 20 preferably: concentric. with the can. A stem member. 21 preferably rigidly connected with the cap l l extendsintoand loosely-fits the socket 20. Thestemlmember 2Iis-fastened to the lever IT by;- a pin 22. extendingtransverselyv through the socket 20 and through a diametrical hole 23- pro- Vided. in.the.. stem member. The hole 23 has a diameter. substantially greater than the. diameter of the. pin 22* to permitlimited longitudinal and lateral-movement of the stem member 2I in the socket 20. The closediend of the socket 20 is convergent andlpreferably concave orsubstantially hemispherical The adjacent end of the stem. member 2Iis alsoconvergent and preferably, convexly' curvedv to permit of I its oscillation withinthesocket 20. The pinZZ is so positioned in:th'e:hole. 23-as to permit-the convergent endof the stem member 2I to contact-with the innermost'extremity'of theclosed end of the socket 29 and thereby. to opera-teasauniversal joint when the; leverisepressedztoward the cap I 4.

The lever I! is normally pressed toward the cap I4 by-means of arelatively rigid wire 24 forming acoil spring-mounted on the pin lfl betweenthe biiurcated endportionsu of.- the lever. The ends of the wire 24 extend laterally and oppositely to respectively-.engagethe lever I1 and the spout I2, the coil being so mounted that its resilience constantly tends tomovethesocket end of the lever toward thecap I4. Thesubstantial point contact ofthestem member 2-] with the lever I! at the convergent inner end of the socket 2!! permits the cap M to be self-adjusting and to be seated with the cushion disc IS in uniform contact with the open end of spouts having different angles of inclination to the axis of the spout. The automatic adjustment of the cap l4 also results in the pressure by the lever I! being uniformly distributed over that portion of the cushion disc 16 in direct contact with the end face of the spout and thereby seals the spout regardless of irregularities in its end face.

The cap i4 is adapted to be moved to open the spout [2 against the resistance of the coil spring 24, this being accomplished by manual actuation of a pull lever 25. The lever 25 is connected by a pin 26 with the upper ends of the bifurcated portions of the lever I l. The lever 25 extends through a slot 2'! formed in the adjacent portion Ila of the carrying handle I l and terminates in a handle member 28 positioned between the portions Ho and Nb of the carrying handle and in spaced relation to the vertical portion Nb of the carrying handle. The handle member 28 is so positioned relative to the member lib that both may be simultaneously grasped with one hand, with the lever 25 lifted into substantial perpendicularity to the bifurcated end of the lever ll. In this position of the handle member 28 the operator, by closing his hand, is enabled to exert a pull on the lever 25 which rotates the lever I? and the cap M to open the spout I2. Upon release of the handle member 28, the spring 2d snaps the cover l4 back to closed position of the spout l2. The described manual manipulation of the levers 25 and I! to open the spout may be accomplished in any position of the can. In practice, the can is preferably tilted to a position wherein the spout I2 is suitably inclined to discharge into the receiving aperture of a vessel to be filled, the tilting being done with the spout closed. The spout is then opened, by manual manipulation of the levers 25 and I! as described, without further movement of the can or shifting of his hand by the operator. The location of the lever 25 and handle member 28 is such that the spout can not be accidentally opened, and if the can should be overturned either inadvertently or for the purpose of subjecting it to underwriters tests, there is no possibility of leakage through the spout l2.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided simple and inexpensive improvements in closure devices of the kind described whereby the devices are adapted to be seated on spouts having their open ends inclined at any suitable angles to the vertical axes of cans on which they are mounted and uniform pressure is exerted by the cushioned closure devices over the end face of the spout adapted to effectively seal the spouts regardless of any irregularities in their end faces or the particular angle of inclination of such faces to the vertical axes of the cans.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a spring pressed lever mounted on the receptacle, and means providing a loose ball and socket joint connection of the disc with the lever, said means being operable by the lever pressure to engage the disc with the end of the conduit and then to selectively tilt the disc in any direction requisite to bring it into exact parallelism with the bounding end face of the conduit.

2. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a spring pressed lever mounted on the receptacle, means providing a loose ball and socket joint connection of the disc with the lever, said means being operable by the lever pressure to engage the disc with the end of the conduit and then to selectively tilt the disc in any direction requisite to bring it into exact parallelism with the bounding end face of the conduit, and means operable to move the lever and disc away from the conduit.

3. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a lever mounted on the receptacle having one end providing a socket adjacent the conduit, a stem member connected at one end with the disc and having its other end projecting into the socket, the extreme end of said projecting portion being convergent and adapted to bear against the lever at the closed end of the socket, means adapted to retain the stem member in the socket and to permit its oscillation about its convergent end as a pivot, and resilient means tending to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the conduit.

4. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a lever mounted on the receptacle having one end providing a socket adjacent the conduit, a stem member connected at one end with the disc and having its other end projecting into the socket, the extreme end of the projecting portion of the stem member being convergent and adapted to bear against the lever at the bottom of the socket, means adapted to retain the stem member in the socket and permit its oscillation about its convergent 0 end as a pivot, resilient means tending to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the conduit, and means manually operable to move the lever and disc away from the conduit.

5. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a lever mounted on the receptacle and providing a socket adjacent the conduit, a stem member rigidly connected at one end with the disc and having its other end projecting into the socket, the crosssectional dimensions of the socket being substantially greater than the corresponding cross-sectional dimensions of the stem member, the inner ends of the socket and the stem member being respectively concave and convergent and adapted for hearing contact, means fastening the stem member to the lever, said means being adapted to permit limited longitudinal movement and oscillation of the stem member in the socket, and resilient means tending to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the conduit.

6. A closure device for the discharge conduit of a receptacle, said device comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the conduit, a lever mounted on the receptacle andproviding a socket adjacent the conduit, a stem member rigidly connected at one end with the disc and having its other end projecting into the socket, the crosssectional dimensions of the socket being substantially greater than the corresponding crosssectional dimensions of the stem member, the inner ends of the socket and the stem member being respectively concave and convergent and adapted for bearing contact, means fastening the stem member to the lever, said means being adapted to permit limited longitudinal movement and oscillation of the stem member in the socket, and resilient means adapted to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the conduit, and means manually operable to rot-ate the lever and move the disc from its seat.

'7. The combination with a can having a discharge spout and a carrying handle in juxtaposition, of a closure device for the spout comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the spout, a lever having one end providing a socket and its other end pivotally connected with the can adjacent the handle, a stem member having one end rigidly connected with the disc and its other end projecting into said socket, the cross-sectional dimensions of the socket being greater than the corresponding cross-sectional dimensions of the stem member, the inner end of the socket being concave and the inner end of the stem member being convergent and adapted for bearing contact with said concave end of the socket, means fastening the stem to the lever, said means being adapted to permit limited longitudinal movement and lateral oscillation in all directions of the stem member relative to the lever, resilient means tending to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the spout, and a manually actuated member positioned contiguous to said handle operable to rotate the lever and disc to open position.

8. The combination with a can having a discharge spout and a handle in juxtaposition, of a closure device for the spout comprising a disc having one face adapted to be seated on and to seal the discharge end of the spout, a lever having one end providing a socket and its other end pivotally connected with the can adjacent the handle, a stem member having one end rigidly connected with the disc and its other end projecting into said socket, the cross-sectional dimensions of the socket member being greater than the corresponding cross-sectional dimensions of the stem member, the inner end of the socket being concave and the inner end of the stem member being convergent and adapted for bearing contact with said concave end of the socket, means fastening the stem to the lever, said means eing adapted to permit limited longitudinal movement and lateral oscillation in all directions of the stem member relative to the lever, resilient means tending to move the lever to seat the disc on the discharge end of the spout, and a member manually operable by a pull exerted thereon to rotate the lever to move the disc away from the spout, said member and handle being contiguous and both adapted to be grasped by one hand of the operator to exert a pull on said member.

9. In a receptacle of the kind described and in combination, a discharge conduit, a closure mem ber adapted to be seated on and seal the discharge end of said conduit, a spring pressed lever movable in a plane coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the conduit, means connecting said closure member and lever whereby the lever normally maintains the closure member in conduit sealing position, and means operable to retract the lever in opposition to the spring pressure and thereby to unseat the closure member, said connecting means being adapted to permit limited relative movement of the closure member away from and towards the lever when the lever is retracted, said connecting means being operable by return movement of the lever to act as a ball and socket joint tending to tilt and uniformly press the closure member against the discharge end of a conduit bounded by a face transversely inclined to the plane in which said lever is movable.

RUDOLPH J. ANSCHICKS. 

